UH Mānoa and Kalaupapa physician offers insight into colony's history

"Sixty Miles East and Sixty Years Back in Time"

On the eve of his departure to Rome—as he leads a delegation of Kalaupapa residents headed for the canonization of Father Damien de Veuster—Dr. Kalani Brady of the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) will present a free public presentation.

Dr. Brady, the physician of the remaining Hansen’s Disease patients on Moloka‘i, will discuss the history of the Kalaupapa settlement and describe the relationship between its residents and the UH medical school from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 24, in the Medical Education Building Auditorium at JABSOM.

Dr. Brady’s talk is titled, “Sixty Miles East, and Sixty Years Back in Time,” referring to the 1950’s—when Hawai‘i’s government last ordered sufferers of Hansen’s Disease into isolation on Moloka‘i. Father Damien, “the leper priest of Moloka‘ì,” contracted the disease of the nerves and skin and died in 1889 while ministering to the colony’s people. The Hawai‘i State Legislature abolished isolation laws in 1969.

“By Father Damien’s example of humility and love, the people of Kalaupapa regained a sense of dignity, forbearance, and acceptance of their condition,” said Dr. Brady. “They rediscovered the faith that had withered with their banishment. The Department of Native Hawaiian Health is blessed to have become a trusted part of the intimate community of Kalaupapa by providing medical care to its patients.”

The JABSOM Medical Education Building Auditorium is located at 651 Ilalo Street in Kaka‘ako. Dr. Brady is Interim Chair of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine, as well as Editor of the Hawai‘i Medical Journal and Hawai‘i Governor of the American College of Physicians.

Father Damien will become a saint of the Roman Catholic Church on October 11, 2009, in a canonization ceremony presided over by Pope Benedict XVI.

The John A. Burns School of Medicine, UH Mānoa was established in 1965 and has trained more than 4,500 medical doctors (medical school and residency program) to date. Approximately half of the physicians practicing in Hawai‘i are graduates of the John A. Burns School of Medicine MD or residency program. For more information about JABSOM, please visit http://jabsom.hawaii.edu\.

The University of Hawai`i at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing 225 different degrees. Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students matriculate in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit http://manoa.hawaii.edu.